Ex-dcf Official's Records Under Review

Inspector To Look At Time Sheets Of Orlando Administrator.

July 30, 2004|By Melissa Harris Orlando Sentinel and The South Florida Sun-Sentinel contributed to this article.

After resigning last fall to spend more time with his family, Orlando's top child welfare official agreed to stay on the job and ease the transition to a new leader. But records show that during the 11 weeks David Dennis continued working as the District 7 administrator, he was out 29 percent of the time, maintained an erratic schedule and recorded that he worked up to 12 hours on days when he had few or no appointments on his calendar.

The Department of Children & Families' inspector general said this week that her office plans to review Dennis' time sheets and calendars during his extended employment.

DCF spokesman Bill Spann said that the agency has no reason to suspect inaccuracies and that the Orlando chief had taken leave he'd earned in his year on the job.

"We trust that all of our employees fill out their time sheets accurately or be held accountable," Spann said.

Dennis' secretary, Carol Santiago, said that Dennis' calendar included only formal appointments and that he also spent his days meeting informally with staff.

Dennis, who earned $118,000 annually, wrote in an e-mail to the Orlando Sentinel that during his last three months, he used most of his "remaining, legitimately earned, annual leave days," some after his father had a severe stroke and his son broke his arm.

"Originally, I had planned on leaving sooner than I ultimately did, but ... my supervisor, [Director of Operations Ben] Harris said it would be better for the district if I could stay longer to help with a smoother transition in leadership," wrote Dennis. "I did what I was asked to do by my supervisor."

Harris resigned earlier this month after an investigation found he skirted state bidding laws in awarding contracts.

Dennis left Dec. 8 to take a private-sector child services job in California four months before his replacement, Mike Watkins, arrived.

Dennis submitted his resignation to agency Secretary Jerry Regier on Sept. 24, saying his last day "likely" would be Oct. 10. Had Dennis resigned when planned, the state would have paid him more than $4,700 for unused leave and sick time, thousands less than he made staying on.

Dennis had long ties to Regier, serving as his chief lieutenant in the late 1990s at Oklahoma's Office of Juvenile Affairs. Regier approved the time sheets for the 11 weeks Dennis worked after submitting his resignation.